The UK's poor stroke survival rate is because the NHS does not ensure that all victims are given access to clot-busting drugs within 24 hours.

For those who suffer an ischaemic stroke, the most common type, some 17.4 per cent die within 30 days after admission to hospital, compared to the OECD average of 9 per cent and the Danish figure of 5.3 per cent.

Labour's failure to ensure everyone has access to an NHS dentist is also laid bare by the report, which says the French are three times more likely to see a dentist.

We have one of the lowest numbers of dentists in the developed world with 42 per 100,000 population, compared to 61 across the OECD.

The report says Britain has one of the lowest numbers of hospital beds with each one occupied 83 per cent of the time. Critics say this puts patients at risk of superbugs because there is no time to clean between occupants.

Infant mortality is also the highest in Western Europe.

On the plus side, suicide rates are among the lowest in the developed world and children's dental health is one of the best.

Health Secretary Andy Burnham said the Government had unveiled initiatives on cancer, heart attacks and strokes and would 'work tirelessly' to drive up standards of care.

The British Medical Association justified GPs' pay by saying they 'provide the widest range of care in the developed world' with a 'cost-effective' emphasis on prevention of illness.